Friday, September 11, 2009

9/11/2009

Eight years ago today, our country was brutally attacked by terrorists.  Thousands of American citizens died due to a senseless act of terrorism which changed the course of life in our country.  Many of us became aware that day of just how fragile this life really is.  It's one thing for a soldier to die in battle.  As terrible as that is, it's something that every member of the military knows could happen at any time.  Like police and firefighters, our brave men and women know that they could make the ultimate sacrifice.

It's something else altogether for a secretary to die at her desk at the hands of a terrorist.  Office work is not considered to be a hazardous profession, at least not a life-threatening one.   The potential of being blown up isn't usually part of the job description.

Many people asked in the aftermath of that terrible day, "How could God let this happen?"  A better question might be, "How could God NOT let this happen?"  For one thing, He gave us free will.  We're not puppets.  We can do any stupid, evil thing we choose.  Like a human parent, God wants us to love Him.  He wants that more than anything.  But how can He know if we love Him or not if He controls everything we do?  He can't, so he gives us the freedom to choose.  As it turns out, most people DO love Him and act accordingly.  But some don't.  Or, they have such a misguided, warped sense of what God asks of them that they do all kinds of stupid stuff, thinking they're doing the right thing.  They've been misled by false prophets, as Jesus warned we all might be.

As Paul says in our first reading today, "I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man, but I have been mercifully treated
because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief.  Indeed, the grace of our Lord has been abundant, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus."  Maybe terrorists act out of ignorance, or maybe they're just pure evil.  No one knows the truth except God Himself.

As Christians we believe that there is some good in everything, even something as vile as the 911 attacks.  They did bring about great change in our country.  In the aftermath of the attacks the country came together in a way that I've never seen in my lifetime.  Suddenly partisan politics gave way to patriotism.  "God Bless America" replaced "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at our stadiums.  Republicans and Democrats joined together in searching for survivors at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the fields of Pennsylvania.  President Bush's approval rating shot through the roof as he took decisive action to ward off future attacks.  Did the terrorists misjudge us?  Would the attacks make us better and stronger instead of bringing us to our knees?

For a while they did.  Like I said, "God Bless America" became our song of choice anywhere we gathered in the months following 911. Lee Greenwood and his song "I'm Proud to be an American" was back on the radio.  Greenwood himself, hardly a household name prior the September, 2001 was suddenly in great demand.  Country singers rushed to record other patriotic songs.   But gradually that all changed.

It didn't take long for the left and the right to get back to bickering over the best way to fight this new threat.  The President's new-found popularity started to slip.  Politicians and their cronies from both parties began to find ways to make money from the crisis.  Before long, it was business as usual on Capital Hill and in the White House.  Today, just eight years later, we're back to singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame".  With the Cardinals making another run to the playoffs, how many St. Louisians are really focused on the continuing threat to our way of life from people who are jealous of our way of life?  I was at the Tour of Missouri on Monday and I was shocked at the number of men who didn't take off their hats for the singing of the National Anthem. 

There have been no attacks on American soil since 2001, though many have been averted.  But, rather than thanking God for these years of safety, many of us just complain about having to take off our shoes before boarding an airplane, or throw a fit when the security agent tells us that we can't take our pocket knife or bottle of shampoo on the plane.

Jesus asks us today, “Can a blind person guide a blind person?  Will not both fall into a pit?"  Of course the context was different in the first century, but don't His words apply to us today?  Are we blind to what's going on around us, or are we vigilant in our lives and our faith?  As I said earlier, many people wondered how God could let 911 happen?  God didn't make it happen but given our free will, He couldn't stop it either.  Even if He could have prevented it, why would He? 

This country was founded on religious freedom.  The first settlers came here to get away from religious persecution.  How could they have known that they were landing in such a vast land with abundant natural resources and a diverse climate which made it possible to grow crops to feed the entire world, not just in the sixteenth century, but even today?  We have been truly blessed from the very beginning.  Our founding fathers recognized God's gifts when they chartered our new nation.  "We have been endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights."

But over the course of the last two centuries we've gradually turned away from God.  In their efforts to accommodate all people and to avoid creating a state religion, the courts, through a series of misguided decisions have created a state religion.  It's called atheism.  Our brothers and sisters who don't believe in God are the only group that can practice their faith without fear of interference. 

While the courts have led us down this path, you and I share in the blame by sitting quietly by and letting this happen.  We can't display the Ten Commandments.  We can't have a Nativity scene on public property.  We can't have prayer in public schools.  Worst of all, the killing of innocent, unborn babies has become the law of the land. 

I don't want to turn this into a political rant and believe me, both parties have been instrumental in our turning away from God, but did you know that just yesterday the Senate voted to confirm Harvard professor Cass Sunstein as the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Budget and Management. This is a man who believes that animals should have more rights than unborn children.  He's on record as saying that animals should have the right to sue human beings if they're mistreated.  And, in his new job, he has the power to make it happen.

I have to ask again, "Why would God want to grant us special treatment?" 

But all isn't lost.  Like a human father who loves his sons and daughters no matter what they do, God loves us.  When a parent gets that dreaded phone call in the middle of the night, "Mr. Buckley, this is the St. Louis County Police.  We have your son (or daughter) at the police station." we don't say "Don't bother me.  I'm through with him or her.  He or she is just too much trouble."  We get dressed and drive down there to bail them out.  We love them no matter what.  If we can be that loving, that forgiving, how much more will a loving God be there for us when we get in trouble?

You and I have the right and the obligation to defend our faith and to insist that we be able to practice it when and where we choose.  Every time we come to church we're reminded of the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice to keep us free to do just that.  So, as we remember the thousands of our brothers and sisters who lost their lives on that terrible day eight years ago, let's not lose sight of what's really important.  We live in the land of the free and the home of the brave.  Let's do all we can, through our prayers and our actions, to keep it that way.  As Jesus said, "Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.”

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